Jealousy in OthelloThe tragedy of Othello is the story of jealousy. It is Othello's public insecurity that makes him jealous of Cassio and allows him to believe that Cassio slept with Desdemona. Furthermore, it is Iago's jealousy of Othello that drives him to destroy both Othello and Desdemona. What is fascinating about Shakespeare's Othello is the way in which the jealousy between the main characters is sexualised. Perhaps what makes Othello so disturbing is how quickly this sexualized jealousy turns into hatred. For Othello and Iago, love becomes hate, and hate becomes love, and the distinction between these two feelings is constantly blurred. The character of Othello is attracted to what he calls the courtly and aristocratic beauty of Cassio which Iago describes by saying, "he has a daily beauty in his life that makes me ugly." Othello in the play feels a sexualised jealousy towards Cassio, this is manifested in Othello making Cassio second in command despite him being an inexperienced and unproven gentleman, far from the grit of battle. Even after Othello...